


lethal justice

by nap-hime (nap_princess)



Category: Hyouka & Kotenbu Series
Genre: An ending ...?, Gen, HoutarouMayaka friendship, It's already Summer Event 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25283125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nap_princess/pseuds/nap-hime
Summary: The fact that they’ve known each other for nine, ten — no,elevenyears now — is an insult to her very being. She wonders what she had done in her past life to deserve such a punishment?— Mayaka, Houtarou, and the little things they recall of one other(It’s already Summer! Event 2020 — Day 6: “I won’t forget this!”)
Relationships: Ibara Mayaka & Oreki Houtarou
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	lethal justice

**lethal justice**

* * *

* * *

**i**

* * *

Mayaka has spent nine years of her life sharing every. single. one. of her classes with Houtarou Oreki, from elementary school all the way up to middle school, he’s always been in her peripheral. So much so that Mayaka is sure that she has his face memorised, ingrained into her brain unwillingly.

So, when she enrols into Kamiyama High and the list of classes stuck to a crowding board tells her that Houtarou is not in class 1-E, Mayaka is surprised. 

_So I’m finally free, huh?_ Mayaka thinks to herself at first, wondering if this will be the last interaction she’ll have with Houtarou and his grey-lifestyle. _I'm glad._ She tells herself.

Mayaka’s high lasts for the whole of the morning’s assembly until the moment she steps into her new class, then she’s a bit lost. It became a subconscious habit of hers to look for Houtarou whenever she was confused with her surroundings at school. He's been there since grade one, loitering at the corner of her eye. If he was ever missing, then it'd be a sign for Mayaka. 

Houtarou is not the type of person to wander off, he’s almost always where he’s supposed to be. It didn’t help either that Houtarou became easier to spot after his growth spurt made him grow taller than the average Japanese boy.

So now that he’s missing, well … her gut tells her that something isn’t right!

“Excuse me,” A girl says, a classmate probably. “You’re blocking the way.”

“Oh!” Mayaka reddens and steps aside, away from the door. “Sorry.”

Mayaka didn’t think this would happen to her. She didn’t think her inability to spot Houtaoru’s usual presence would be so disorienting.

A few of her peers scuttle around, chattering and squeezing past each other. Mayaka does little to acknowledge the hustle and bustle. She stands in the halls until she sees Houtarou enter class 1-B. She knows that slouch anywhere.

.

.

.

When Houtarou finally visits her on her shift at the library, he's dragged by a tall girl with long jet black hair and large indigo eyes.

Mayaka finds the setting odd. Shouldn't Houtarou be home by now? Or slumped somewhere napping?

Still, she greets him, armed to the teeth with quips and stinging insults.

"Well, if it isn't Oreki."

His mouth immediately dips. "Ibara."

“Are you surprised to see me?” She teases, giving him a smug smirk.

He shakes his head; his wrist is still encased in Chitanda’s grip and Satoshi’s brown eyes are locked on Houtarou’s tight jaw. “I knew you’d be here." He says it like it's a threat. Then he adds in tone that matches her, "I came just to see you,”

.

.

.

As soon as the Classics Club forms, Mayaka joins to spend more time with Satoshi. She quickly befriends Chitanda and learns to enjoy the quiet serenity of the secluded club room. Though she won’t admit it out loud, _ever_ , it’s a comforting sight to see _that slug_ a minimum of once a week.

* * *

**ii**

* * *

Mayaka finds that Houtarou Oreki cannot do an abundance of things.

He can't run for longer than ten seconds, he can't make more than five basic facial expressions, and he can't get his facts straight about the seven deadly sins (how he even confused the conversation with the one hundred and eight earthly desires is beyond Mayaka's comprehension). 

But, the one thing Mayaka can count on Houtarou to do is handle her when she's at her angriest. He strangely has a way of calming her down; speaking in an even, monotone voice.

"Aren't you tired?" He says.

It's less of a question and more of a fact, but he leaves it to her to interpret her feelings. Houtarou never assumes what Mayaka is experiencing, but sometimes it feels like he’s memorised all the ways to disengage her fury.

Mayaka turns away from a pensive Satoshi and a worried Chitanda who is holding the box of cookies up like a shield.

"I am." Mayaka answers after exhaling all the hot air in her lungs.

She sits beside Houtarou, her cheek is turned away from Satoshi but her back is facing Houtarou, a rookie thing to do around her archnemesis. And yet, she stays. This is the closest she's sat near Houtarou since middle school.

* * *

**iii**

* * *

Sometimes Mayaka feels like Houtarou can be such a dead weight with his life motto; wasting away and wasting his hours. 

Mayaka always finds herself pushing him. "Use your brain." She would say harshly. He would either frown or give her a blank look each time.

Mayaka honestly does not know when someone will knock him on the head and bring some sense to him, but she hopes it comes soon.

And it does, along with Spring. Houtarou is pulled down the halls of Kamiyama High like a string toy. At first, Mayaka is amused, and then she is amazed when he solves mystery after mystery. First the rented library book, then _Hyouka_ , then the class film and so on and so on.

"What?" Houtarou asks when he finds her staring at him.

She blinks, trying to notice a crack in his exterior. Where is his consistent trudging? Where is the depressingly grey aura she’s grown accustomed to? The memories of who Houtarou is and has always been?

Either her recollections of her archnemesis is foggy, or Houtarou has been replaced with someone more sunnier. Someone more colourful.

"Nothing," She replies.

Who is this boy, and what has he done to the real Houtarou Oreki?

* * *

**iv**

* * *

He can't read.

Mayaka's not even mocking Houtarou's inability to read the room or other people's feelings. Genuinely. He. cannot. read. How he misread Kugayama-kaichou’s name as ‘Rikuyama’ and her favourite author as ‘Anshinin’ instead of ‘Ajimu’ is appalling!

However, Houtarou has his moments. He’s surprisingly good at English. She recalls Houtarou jolting down the answer to Sekitani Jun’s reasonings; scrawled in a readable, perfect loop — _I scream._

Mayaka's never been the best when it comes to writing the language; her alphabets aren't written as neatly as she would like. She struggles with her calligraphy, her 'u's sometimes look like 'y’s. She knows there’s no such thing as perfect, but Mayaka is the type to always strive to better herself. Still, it sucks when she gets things wrong.

“Hey,” She says to Houtarou in an empty Geography room, peeking at him.

“Mm?” Houtarou hums, barely lifting his gaze from his book. 

“Can you check this for me?” She asks, sliding her homework across the table. She doesn’t even give him a chance to decline. 

Houtarou raises his head, blinks, then puts down his paperback. Green eyes scan through her familiar hand-writing not a second later.

“How’d you get so good at writing cursive, anyway?” Mayaka asks. "Does your sister have books about it or something?" She remembers facts of him, and of his tales of his older sister being an oddball.

Houtarou shakes his head. 

She raises an eyebrow, refusing to believe that she pays less attention to her English teacher than Houtarou does. 

“Was it Ogi-sensei? Was he your favourite teacher?” Mayaka asks a second round, she still isn’t entirely sure of Houtarou’s existence yet. Mayaka thinks this is the longest she’s spent talking to Houtarou about something that is unnecessary, so rarely does she inquire about his life.

“Not really.” Houtarou answers. “I thought he was a pretty strange teacher before I solved the helicopter mystery.”

Mayaka makes a face. She doesn’t get to ask anymore questions though, because Houtarou spins her notebook back at her and points to a paragraph.

“You need to work on this part. Your 'n's still look like 'h's,”

* * *

**v**

* * *

April rolls around in second year and the Classics Club piles into the Oreki resident. 

The house is neat and two-storeys, and Houtarou is surprisingly ready; dressed nicely, hair combed.

Ōhinata babbles on about sayings of her friend, bright and chipper. Mayaka likes their newest member, even bestowing her the nickname of 'Hina-chan' despite only knowing her for two weeks.

"How did you know it was my birthday?" Houtarou asks, but his green eyes are already set on Mayaka.

He looks to her even before Satoshi reveals the answer. Houtarou must have deduced it with their years of history. Still, did he have to stare so obviously?

"I remembered." She utters, wanting to sound nonchalant.

"I don't remember yours." Came his reply.

Mayaka frowns. He's sampled parts of her childhood, it's cruel that he doesn't know her birthday. The fact that they’ve known each other for nine, ten — no, _eleven_ years now — is an insult to her very being. She wonders what she had done in her past life to deserve such a punishment?

A part of her wants to shout in a typical _shoujo manga_ style, _"I won't forget this!"_ followed by a ten-year revenge plan, but she is not _that childish_. If Houtarou wasn't the birthday boy, she'd reach over and punch his shoulder. But he is. It's his special day.

So she pointedly tells him instead, "That's because you're rude."

* * *

**vi**

* * *

"What's the matter?" Houtarou asks when he notes how Mayaka isn't biting into her burger. Chitanda has gone to get the sauces, and Satoshi is using the restroom. It's just the two of them sitting in this fast food booth.

The matter is, Mayaka is willingly spending another Summer with Oreki. The matter is, she's allowed herself to see him outside of school time. The matter is —

"They messed up my order." She answers.

He peeks at her uneaten wrapped food. "It's the cheese, right? You can’t stand the smell.”

"You remembered?"

He makes a sound at the back of his throat. It sounds like a ‘yes’.

Mayaka scrunches up her nose. "Ew,"

Houtarou tosses Mayaka his own displeased expression.

He's unsure if Mayaka is referring to him or the cheese, but he is not curious enough to ask. Mayaka will undoubtedly have some stinging response ready for him, and Houtarou isn't sure if he's in the mood for it. The heat has sapped his limited energy.

"You should go and correct your order now, Chitanda and Satoshi will feel bad if they have to start eating without you."

"Don't tell me what to do," Mayaka says but re-wraps the burger regardless. She's stubborn when it comes to many things, but that doesn't mean she won't listen to Oreki. Standing, she tells him, "Don't lose my spot."

There's no longer a biting tone behind her words, and Houtarou lets out a relaxed sigh.

"Hmm," He waves her away. "Don't worry, I'll guard it with my life."

* * *

**end**

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: I now understand why Mayaka thinks Houtarou is useless. Houtarou really can't do much. I'm convinced Chitanda excels in the five senses because Houtarou lacks in it.
> 
> Sight —  
> Words: Kugayama / Ajimu.  
> Houtarou: Rikuyama / Anshinin.
> 
> Hearing (Volume 6: The long holiday) —  
> Kaho: Eru is here.  
> Houtarou: Did you say … 'electric' ?  
> Kaho: (is this legal?)
> 
> — 16 July 2020


End file.
